A Choice's Burden
by beachqueen17
Summary: Eren and Levi make a decision and it costs them more than just time. WARNING: character death


Hello, this is my first time ever writing fanfiction. So if there is something wrong or whaveter just leave a comment or something.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Shingeki no Kyoujin. Everything belongs to its rightful owners.

Enjoy~

Two 9 meter class titans were coming from the back and a 15 meter was coming at them from the front. Eren glanced quickly at Levi waiting for an order. Levi stared straight ahead then suddenly raised his arm and signaled to attack. Eren pulled at his reins and veered to the left. Their group was at a huge disadvantage. They were in the middle of a plain, they couldn't use their 3d gear until the titans got closer. It wasn't a large group either. It consisted of Eren, Levi, Mikasa, Hanji, Jean, and Sasha. Eren cursed when he heard someone call his name. He turned and saw Mikasa flanking him.

"Don't worry Eren, I'm right beside you." Her grey eyes steeled.

"Don't be worried about me, let's just kill these things and keep going." He shouted, yanking at the reins. Eren gained speed and pulled the trigger. He zipped through the air easily slicing the back of the titan's neck. At this point there was no reason for him to change. He quickly got back on his horse and started after the others.

Levi and Mikasa easily took down the other two and they continued on when they heard heavy footsteps.

Sasha groaned as she tugged at the reins, she scanned the hills and screamed. Jean and Hanji turned back to look at her. "Five 17 meter class and an abnormal coming from the South." She yelled. Levi turned and narrowed his eyes.

"Go."

They took off again. They couldn't avoid them; they couldn't lose any more people than they already have. It was a flurry of blades, blood, and steam but as soon as they were almost done dealing with the last two. Jean reported nine more coming in from their right.

Eren stilled on his horse, there couldn't be a coincidence that they are all coming over here. He thought back to Annie. He swallowed hard. He sped up to catch up with Levi.

"Corporal!" Levi turned from his position on top of the titan's head.

"What is it Jaegar? Hurry your ass up and help Hanji."

"I think they are after me, Corporal." Eren yelled and Levi sharply glanced at him.

"This isn't the time for your stupid ideas, Jaegar. Do as you're told."

"I don't want anymore people to die. There are more on their way and they probably won't stop until they kill me." At that Levi landed in front of Eren and grabbed him by the collar.

He pulled him in, "Jaegar, I don't know what you are trying to pull don't even think about it. You are a key part of this mission, you can't die yet."

"Sorry Sir, but there will be no mission if we all die." Levi raised a brow. "I'll act as decoy and everyone else escapes to the nearest safe area."

"There is no safe area. Do you think you will survive this?"

"I have to, I haven't killed them all yet."

Levi nodded his head, "Fine, just this once Jaegar I will trust you." He shot flair into the sky. "Don't die."

"You too." Eren jumped back on to his horse and headed towards the titans.

Mikasa saw the flair but headed towards Eren instead. "Where are you going? That was the retreat signal."

"You guys are retreating, I'm acting as decoy."

She frowned, "Did that short bastard put you up to this? I'll kill him."

"No he didn't. Hurry and go. I'll be fine, I promised you right?" Eren gave her a tight smile. Her eyes widened.

She shook her head and turned around.

Jean fell in line with Levi, Sasha right behind him and Hanji just a few paces in front of Mikasa.

"Corporal, is Eren acting as decoy?"

"Yes. Now stop talking and hurry up."

"But why, he's the whole reason for thi-"

"Kirschtein, he chose it. Unless you want to go fight them alone I advise you shut up."

"I hope Eren will be okay." Sasha mumbled to herself.

"He will be fine." Mikasa stated scaring her. "He will be fine." Sasha looked over and saw Mikasa staring straight.

Eren gave the horse a signal and watched it as it rode off to the others. He snapped in his blades and flew through the air slicing a chunk of the titan's neck off. He went low and swung high, cutting one titan down at a titan. He wheezed as one neared him, there seemed to be no end to them. Swallowing, he pulled the trigger and aimed toward the neck but something caught his leg. He struggled against the giant's hand but it was useless. But the titan didn't go to bite him; he took Eren and threw him at the ground.

The earth crumbled around Eren. His head hurt and he couldn't feel his body. He pushed himself so he was lying on his back. The titan bowed over him.

"Shit."

He lifted his wrist to his mouth and bit down. Pain shot through him but nothing happened. He eyes shot open, this cannot be happening right now. He turned, the others weren't that far yet and the titans were closing in. He could feel the panic in his chest rising. There seemed to be even more titans now, he only had maybe a minute left before they fully surrounded him. He bit again, power pulsed through him and he was surrounded in heat. He grinned, his titan roared. The titans were now just a few feet away, Eren pulled his arm back and launched a punch.

Everyone turned when they heard the roar. Mikasa felt some relief wash over her but dread started to form when she saw how many titans there were.

"There weren't that many before was there?" Sasha asked eyes wide. She watched them as Eren bit, tore, and punched them to pieces.

"Jaegar can handle himself." Levi said. Hanji turned to look at him but kept her mouth shut.

A titan screamed and Sasha jumped on her horse. She whipped her head around and froze. Two titans were coming towards them.

"I'll take care of it." Mikasa rode off without another word.

Eren turned his body as a titan bit into his arm as another screamed. Two titans left the group and started to head for the others. He yanked the titan off and threw it into the others. He roared and started to run after the two that left. As he got closer he saw Mikasa. She is supposed to escaping. Eren ran faster and body slammed into one.

"EREN!"

Eren got up and ignored Mikasa screaming, the other titans were coming over here too. He cursed; he had to finish this quickly.

The fight raged on, Mikasa ended up fighting beside him. There were only six more. Mikasa swung up to the neck of one but didn't make it. Eren saw her fly through the air and hit the ground. He stopped moving and stared at her. He through his head back and roared, he clawed through the titans in front of him to reach the one that hurt Mikasa. One went after his leg, Eren kneeled. Another started to eat his arm. He tried to shake him off but it wasn't working. Slowly the other three piled on top of him and began picking him to pieces. He screamed but he couldn't escape. He strained to lift his head up, Mikasa was still on the floor but they weren't going after her. He felt some relief. At that moment, he didn't care for himself. Mikasa was safe. He could regenerate after this. Everything would be okay.

Levi halted and watched Mikasa go into the fray. The titans were going to come after them very soon and there were a few abnormal too. He inhaled, they had to fight. They already wasted too much time and Eren was on the ground. He cursed.

"Hanj, Braus, flank me and Kirschtein."

"Wait, what? Are we going back?" Jean was confused, he thought they were escaping. Mikasa was fighting but he couldn't really see what was happening.

"Yessir. Braus, follow me." The two girls circled around as Jean turned to catch up with Eren.

As they rode closer they started their attack.

"Hey, hey where did Mikasa go?" Jean asked looking around the group of titans.

"Jean, she's over here." He followed the voice and saw Sasha lifting Mikasa onto her horse.

"Kirschtein, don't break formation just yet. We have to get to Eren before the bastard dies."

Jean nodded his head and went for the titan on Eren's back.

The titans chewed at Eren's neck. He couldn't scream, the pain was overwhelming as steam swirled around him. Sunlight burst in front of his eyes, he could escape. He yanked his limbs trying to pull away from the muscle. He couldn't do it. He was too weak, Eren didn't know how long he had been fighting but the effect on his body was brutal. Large eyes appeared in front of him, he jumped back trying to get away. The titan missed his head and bit off his arms. Tears rolled down Eren's face when he heard someone calling his name.

He looked up and saw Jean of all people. "Hurry the hell up, Jaegar. I'm not dying for you." Jean cut away at other titans, but he was nowhere near rescuing Eren. And at that moment, Eren realized that he might not survive this, that maybe one of the others died already. "Mikasa is safe with Hanji and Sasha." Eren smiled to himself, at least she is alive. "Come on, Jaegar, I can't do this by myself."

"I can't get out, my arms are gone and my legs are stuck."

Jean frowned. There were too many titans, and Eren was quite aways below him. Levi was taking on two titans to his right. He groaned and jumped down. "I'm going to have to cut off your legs for this to work."

"Just hurry up."

"If this wasn't an order, I would leave you here to die." Jean pulled out a blade and sliced, Eren tried to muffle a scream but he couldn't hold it in. Jean winced and hefted Eren onto his shoulder. He pulled the trigger and tried to get away. A titan grabbed Jean, Eren eyes were murderous. He focused on regenerating one arm, but it was going too slow. No, it wasn't regenerating at all.

Eren didn't want any more people to die for him. He swallowed as he remembered Levi's squad. He made a choice and they suffered because of that. He looked at Jean, sweat covered his face and panic was evident. Eren lunged into Jean, knocking him to the side and bit his neck. Jean yelped loosening his grip on Eren. By the time Jean realized what happened, he was falling through the air, and the titan had Eren in his grip instead. What had happened, Jean unconsciously pulled the trigger and landed on the ground. He stood watching the scene play out.

The titan opened its mouth, and Eren disappeared with a strangled cry. Not even a moment after, Levi swirled through the air cutting the titans mouth apart. He appeared with Eren unconscious in his arms.

The boys met up with the girls and got away as soon as possible.

Later that night, Hanji looked at Eren lying on the bed. The bleeding wasn't stopping, there was no steam, and he wasn't getting better. She furiously took notes and examined him. It's been six hours from the fight, and he hasn't gained a single limb back. She wiped her brow with the back of her hand and adjusted her glasses. She looked up when the door opened to reveal Levi.

"How is he?"

She shook her head, "He isn't recovering. I don't know what to do."

Levi clenched his fists. What was he going to tell Erwin? What will happen when Mikasa wakes up?

"He's not going to make it through the night at this rate, Levi. What are we going to do?"

His jaw set, "What can we do? He doesn't have the will to recover. We will dispose of him tomorrow morning." With that he turned sharply and left. Hanji sighed, got up, took one long look at the boy on the bed. She had known him for two years already, he had grown so much. She shook her head and walked out the room.

Jean stood in an alcove in the hallway, he was frozen. He had heard everything and couldn't believe it. Eren is dying, and it was his entire fault. He swallowed thickly and left the shadows. He stepped into the room. White sheets were soaked through in blood. The bandages were useless at this point; he glanced at the chairs next to the bed at sat down.

Jean gripped his knees and let out a shaky breath. He promised no more would die after Marco. He was there he could've saved him, but this stupid idiot pushed him out of the way. He slammed his fist down. Even until the end he still won. He didn't know he was crying until a drop hit his pants. He looked at Eren bleary eyed. He just sat watching him, he didn't know for how long but then Eren moved. Jean fixed his eyes on the other, was he imagining it? Eren groaned and shifted on the bed.

Jean got up and yelled, "Hanji, Eren moved!" He did over and over until he heard footsteps running down the hallway.

Hanji ran in and saw Eren writhe on the bed. "Jean, I need you to get some bandages and water." Jean looked at Eren and ran out the room.

He came back to see Eren with his eyes barely opened. Hanji got to work, but the bleeding wasn't stopping.

"Hey." Eren's voice was weak and broken. Jean felt himself collapse on the inside. "You made it. I'm glad you didn't die." He took sharp breaths as he spoke.

"I was there to rescue you! You didn't have to save me." Jean yelled. Hanji shushed him.

"I saved your ass, and you yell." Eren's lip twitched at an attempt to smile. No one said anything for a while then Eren screamed.

"Jean, hurry and get Levi here now."

Jean didn't bother to knock; he yanked open the door and saw the Corporal look up lazily from the papers in front of him. "Corporal, Eren is awake."

Jean saw something flash in the other's eyes. Levi was up and running past Jean to the room. He followed closely behind. Hanji was trying to calm Eren down. Steam was pouring off his body and the room was sweltering hot.

"I'm trying to cool him down but it isn't working."

"Is he regenerating?"

"Not at all, he isn't recovering. I don't understand what's going on."

Jean watched Eren's face contort and twist. He rushed to his side but felt helpless. Eren turned to face Jean. "Tell Mikasa and Armin, I can't be with them anymore." Jean stood horrified as another scream wracked Eren's body. Eren coughed up blood and saw Levi standing in front of him. He smiled and Levi stood where he was and then hurriedly rushed to his side.

"You said you weren't going to die, brat."

Eren looked at him with sad eyes. He mouthed sorry and closed his eyes. The steam slowly subsided and so did the bleeding. Jean saw Levi clutching the bed sheets and he didn't realize he was doing the same. Eren's face was peaceful and Jean had never seen it with this expression. His brows weren't creased and there wasn't a frown or grimace.

Jean turned away and left the room. Hanji watched the boy walk away and turned her attention back to Levi who watching Eren.

"Levi, there was nothing you could've done. It's over now."

"I know. You can go; I think I'm going to stay a bit longer." She stood for a bit then nodded and left.

Levi stared at the boy who was so quiet. He thought this is the quietest he has ever been. Brown hair was matted against his forehead, and red seemed to be the dominant color. Levi replaced the sheet and covered Eren up to his shoulders. If you just glanced, he would seem like he was sleeping, but this time Eren is not going to wake up again.

It was a poor call; he should've never let him take on the titans alone. Sure it's been a few years since, he has known the kid but he was still a brat. Levi thought about the small smile he received just before he died. Levi was so shocked; he had never seen him look like that. Eren never had a nice side when Levi was around. Then to give him that, how cruel.

"Hey, shitty brat, what do you think you're doing? It was too soon for you to die. You still had a mission to finish." He looked down into his lap. "I heard you saved that Jean boy. You sacrificed yourself to save someone. You finally grew up, Jaegar." Levi sat quietly. He knew he just had to get up and walk away. He stared at the boy. The last person in his squad was now gone. He stood up from the chair, placed a hand on Eren's head. "Good job, Eren. You did your best to serve humanity. Your death will not be in vain." He walked to the door and rested his hand on the knob. "I will kill every last titan; I will accept your burden as an error to my decision. I'm sorry."

Levi closed the door quietly and took a deep breath.


End file.
